Monday, August 25, 2014

Well, now, things are just getting a little ridiculous. Nine months?! I mean, really. Come on. But nine months, it is. So as fast as it came, we will celebrate, because tomorrow, she’ll be nine yearsold.

Poop on you, Father Time. You stink.

Alright, now that I have that off my chest. We are celebrating, because we have had the incredible privilege to see this one grow and change over the past nine months… and she caused all of us to catch our collective breath as she finally, finally, got those legs and arms moving! Yep, that’s right…this baby is crawling!! Her brothers were the ones that finally got her going. They had gotten out their Pop the Pig game, and when Ruby saw that pig, she wanted that pig! {Bacon!!} So that’s been the biggest milestone this month, and the most fun! The chasing and cautioning and stopping and blocking and diverting and “no-no-ing” has officially begun…but so has a whole new level of adventuring! Ruby especially seems to like finding our shoes, and then putting them in her mouth {extra protein???} and, of course, finds her way into all of the boys’ stuff that the boys would rather her not touch. {And so it begins…!} So fun to see her in motion. So fun to see the new and entertaining ways the boys are interacting with her at each new stage.

It wasn’t long after she starting moving that she decided to get all grown up on us and begin pulling herself up to her knees. She does occasionally get on her feet, but her hands are either on the ground or propped up on something just slightly off the ground (like one of our legs) when she does so. Her crib mattress did indeed get lowered, and before we know it, we’ll have to start clearing off the end tables, benches, and ottoman of things that aren’t baby-approved.

The other big milestone this last month: teeth! Two of them! Yay!

Ruby is becoming even more animated in her voice and actions. She is a talker (and a loud one at that) and most enjoys imitating what she hears, most commonly her brother’s screeching, but she also just started clicking her tongue when someone else does it. She calls everything “dada” - including Mama - so we’re working on that. ;) She is also beginning to learn those fun infant puppy dog tricks, like “so big” and leaning into me with her big, open-mouthed sloppy face when I ask for a kiss {my personal favorite}.

We checked in with our pediatrician on Thursday for her nine month check up, and Ruby is still sitting comfortably in the 50th percentile for weight (18 pounds) and length (27 inches). And her head is still big. :) While she measures average according to the charts, she seems so, so tiny to me! After having those big, big boys, she just seems like a teeny tiny peanut! Especially when I look down on her as she’s cruising around the floor - she’s so little!

She is still eating like a champ. I have introduced a small range of finger foods, and she devours them. She is eating more and more of those table foods and less and less baby foods, which usually takes more time and is considerably more messy, but as with everything else with this little one, so much fun. We’ve been able to adjust her feedings just a bit that she’s on a daily routine of bottle/meal/bottle/meal/bottle, usually timed perfectly for her to enjoy dinner with us at the table.

We’ve also been able to adjust her bedtime sleep schedule just a bit too, and it has been awesome. Previously, she would fall asleep around 8 or so and we’d wake her up between 10 and 11 to eat one last time before we would go to bed. She would always immediately fall right back asleep after this late bottle, but one night a few weeks ago she decided she wasn’t ready to sleep. It took exactly one night of staying up with her until midnight for me to decide we weren’t going to be doing that again! So we’ve cut her off with a bottle between 8 and 8:30…and she now regularly sleeps until 7:15/7:30! Whoop! Our evening and morning routines are better than ever. Becausesleep, people.

Fun fact: since Ruby’s been born, the two most common things that people will say about her is 1) “She looks so much like her brothers!” and 2) "Her hair!“

reading on the couch while he waits for Reed to wake up — currently, he is reading the Captain Awesome, Magic Tree House, and Roscoe Riley Rules series’, as well as a few Marvel Adventures comic novels